


A Last Good-Bye Of Sorts

by afteriwake



Series: Lingering Winter [5]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 11:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Vizard return to Soul Society to say their farewells.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Last Good-Bye Of Sorts

“It probably would have been better if we were wearing shinigami robes,” Shinji remarked as he and Urahara walked down to where Ukitake was resting. “Then maybe people wouldn’t be looking at us so strangely.”

“After all this time, do you really want to put them back on?” Urahara asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Shinji thought about it a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. I’ve gotten to like suit shirts and pants.”

Urahara laughed, and then looked around as another shinigami bowed and scurried out of the way. “You know, most of these people have probably never heard of us,” he replied. “Except maybe as warning stories.”

“Former Captains returning to their haunting grounds, I take it?” a female voice said from behind them. Both men turned to see Yoruichi there, arms folded across her chest. “Would you ever come back?”

Urahara shook his head. “I’ve grown to like the comforts of home. Wouldn’t mind if you stuck around more, though,” he added with a grin.

“You know me, I like to roam,” she said. “What about you, Shinji?”

He looked around and then shook his head as well. “It’s not my place anymore.” Then he paused. “Weren’t you with Hiyori?”

She got a mischievous smirk on her face. “She ran into Mayuri. They were actually being civil, or at least their version of civil. I decided to let them catch up.”

Shinji groaned and rolled his eyes. “Kisuke, I think we need to grab her before—“ A string of curses came from a room not that far away. Shinji didn’t even wait for a response before he started heading in that direction.

“Right,” Urahara said with a nod, as he began to follow. Then he turned to Yoruichi. “If he experiments on her it’s all your fault.”

She laughed and followed him. “I don’t think he will.” And then the smile dropped slightly as she heard an explosion and smoke started to come out of the 12th squad’s research center. “Or maybe…”

\--

“One hundred years is a long time to be away.”

Lisa looked over and saw Nanao standing behind her. She was not anything like the little girl she’d left behind all those years ago, the girl who clutched a book that was almost as big as she was and wanted to be read to. No, she had grown up, grown into Lisa’s old position and, according to her former Captain, was doing a good job at it.

“Yes, it is,” she said with a nod.

“That night…that night you disappeared, I asked for you. I was told you’d be back, but you weren’t. I didn’t understand what everyone was talking about when they called you a Hollow. And then no one talked about you again,” Nanao said, pushing her glasses farther up on her face.

“Glad to know I was remembered,” Lisa said with a slightly bitter tone.

“I remembered,” Nanao said. “Every time I read a book I thought you would like, I remembered.”

With that, Lisa smiled. “That’s good.” She moved closer to Nanao. “What are you reading now?”

“When Lieutenant Matsumoto went back to the real world, she brought back magazines about clothing and things. I’ve been reading those instead of books lately, when I’ve had the time to read.” She paused. “Do you still read?”

“Yes,” Lisa said with a nod. “Though my taste has changed.”

“Really?”

Lisa’s smile grew. “Yeah, and I don’t think you really want to know what I read right now.”

Nanao’s eyes widened slightly. “I’ll leave the subject alone, then.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Lisa looked around and then inclined her head towards where Kyoraku’s favorite hiding spot was. “Let’s go find your lazy Captain and see what he’s up to. It’s always fun to mess with him.” Then they heard the explosion. “On second thought…”

\--

“It was an accident, and it wasn’t my fault! So why’s everyone assuming it was?” Hiyori growled.

Unohana looked over Hiyori one more time. “I’m sure it wasn’t,” she said gently.

“If he’d get better people in his squad accidents wouldn’t happen,” she grumbled.

“Having accidents happen when there are new squad members is a regular occurrence,” Nanao said with a grin.

Then Hiyori grinned a slightly wicked grin. “He lost his arm, though. I know he can just fix it himself, but…”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “You just couldn’t resist baiting him, could you?”

“It’s _Mayuri_ ,” Urahara said. “Baiting him is second nature to Hiyori.”

“I didn’t mess with him!” Hiyori said. “He was being the smug jerk he always is, only more, and I decided to leave and BAM! I was almost out the door when it happened. I was going to look for Love.”

Unohana chuckled slightly. “It seems you’re fine, Hiyori. If you’d like, I can take you to Hachi and Love. They were visiting some people near my squad headquarters.”

“Thanks,” she said. Then she looked at Shinji. “You laugh at me and I’m gonna hit you with my sandal. _Hard_.” Shinji was visibly trying to hide a grin but failed. Hiyori took off her sandal but Unohana cleared her throat and looked at Hiyori. She put her sandal back on and looked down. “Sorry.”

“Let’s go meet with your friends,” Unohana said as Hiyori stood up. The two women went away from the scene of the accident and only then did Shinji let out a laugh.

“I’m safe as long as Unohana’s around,” he said once he was done. “Good to know there’s still something in the world that scares her.” He looked over at Urahara and Yoruichi. “We should probably get to Ukitake before his Lieutenants stop letting people visit.”

“They do strike me as a little too overprotective,” Urahara said with a grin.

“And they strike me as a couple other things, too,” Yoruichi said with a smirk. “Not many of them are flattering.”

“Well, they’re still children, at least compared to Ukitake. Eventually they’ll grow up. Hopefully.” Shinji shrugged. “Probably shouldn’t keep him waiting any longer.”

With that, the three of them headed back in the direction they’d originally been going, talking amongst themselves. Only in Shinji’s thoughts did it get mentioned that while all this was familiar, it would never be home again, and this whole visit amounted to a last good-bye of sorts. But he pushed the thought aside to focus on the present and enjoy what little time he had left in Soul Society before he went back to his new life.


End file.
